Watch Obama's prime time news conference

WASHINGTON: Six months into his presidency, Barack Obama now owns America's problems and a solid but slipping approval rating. He goes before the nation Wednesday night to defend his economic decisions and press his fight for the health care overhaul he says is desperately needed.

Holding his 10th extended news conference, Obama will renew a message that the White House says he cannot pound enough: making health coverage affordable and sustainable is so vital that anything less will erode the economic stability of families, businesses and even the government.

In excerprts released by the White House, Obama says that health insurance reform is central "as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis."

2018-03-17T20:57:05Z2018-03-17T20:57:04ZJailhouse video reveals California sheriff’s deputies watching and sometimes laughing as a schizophrenic man who had been strapped naked to a chair for 46 hours writhes on the floor of his cell, loses consciousness and eventually dies.